220 Akshaya centres opened in district

KOCHI: As many as 220 Akshaya centres have been opened in Ernakulam district as the ambitious IT dissemination project launched by the Government of Kerala five years ago spreads it wings. A review meeting held here on Wednesday saw 50 entrepreneurs sharing their experiences.

T.K. Manzoor, Director of Akshaya, said the entrepreneurs were drawn from the various levels of their success to have a cross-section of the entrepreneurs in the project. This was meant to draw ideas from their experiences.

He said the interaction had positive results for the entire project.

The Akshaya project, launched by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, aimed at the creation of an IT-enabled society. The project, pilot-launched in Malappuram, was a success with the e-literacy phase of Akshaya imparting training to 5.8 lakh people in the district one member from each of the families.

The declared aim of the project was giving access to information technology to one and all irrespective of being in rural or urban areas, irrespective of age, sex, financial or professional statuses or educational qualifications.

Earlier this year, a total of 12,250 people had completed e-literacy programme through Akshaya in Ernakulam.

The target is to impart computer literacy to a member each of the 6,90,645 households in the district.

The local bodies have to make a provision of Rs.5.74 crore for the e-literacy programme in the district.

It was decided that there would be two centres in each of the panchayats, seven in each of the municipalities and 14 in the corporation area, implying a total of 261 Akshaya centres in the district.

Mr. Manzoor said that actor Mammootty as the brand ambassador for Akshaya had helped the programme gain wide publicity in the State especially as it was launched in the new districts.